Bonfires in the Wilderness Orvin Lao, Community Connections Pastor at Little Trinity Anglican Church, Toronto Jesus considered His own followers to be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Jesus here is affirming that those who claim to follow Him bear His Name and Nature, and thus are the bearers and beacons of divine light wherever they are found in the world. Jesus’ affirmation is also an ontological assertion, meaning that Christian people themselves are in their own nat

The Missing Ingredient Jamie Holtom, Lead Minister North Bramalea United Church, Brampton ON Most church leaders I talk to want their churches to grow. I think that’s a good thing! It’s not about growth or numbers for the sake of themselves. It’s about sharing the good news of Jesus with people so that we might have more people encountering the life-changing message of Christ’s hope and partner with God through the power of the Holy Spirit to bring healing and hope to a broke

What we Know about Evangelism in Canada Dr. Joel Thiessen is Professor of Sociology at Ambrose University and Director of the Flourishing Congregations Institute. Over the last year our research team at the Flourishing Congregations Institute released three publications related to evangelism in Canada, drawing on two projects we have been involved with. One was a chapter in our book, Signs of Life; another was a special report in partnership with Alpha Canada; and finally, an

What You Need to Know About Disability, Diversity, and Flourishing Mike Walker is the primary researcher on the Our Doors are Open Project Disability is a topic people in the pews don’t always want to talk about because weakness and vulnerability can make us uncomfortable. That said, disability is a theological and social issue for many believers and congregations that want to flourish. It’s a theological issue because all people are created in God’s Image; people with disabi

How Do We Bring the Generations Together? Cory Seibel is a pastor at Central Baptist Church in Edmonton As our congregations begin to emerge from the world of COVID, this moment provides us a fresh opportunity to reimagine what church life might look like moving forward. One question that is capturing the imagination of a growing number of churches is: What would it look like for our church family to become more intentionally intergenerational? The growing interest around thi

Caring for Pastors through Difficult Transitions Derek Van Dalen is currently a student at Providence Theological Seminary, Manitoba Helping people to recognize and experience the presence of God is what pastors are called to do. This holy work is often rewarding to the churches as well as the pastors and their families. These fruitful experiences can involve complex interactions between the pastor, their family, and the faith community they serve. The unique working relation

On Racism Ho-Ming Jonathan Tsui, Pastor, Richmond Hill Christian Community Church I grew up in Regina—a small prairie city in the middle of Canada. In the ‘80s, settling there as an immigrant wasn’t a popular choice, but it was the place my father got his first job. We packed up everything we had and arrived there in 1982. I was 8 when we left—but most of my memories are good. The summers were dry and hot and we would go to the fair grounds to something called “Buffalo Days”—

Everyone Here Tithes, and Other Myths About Church Giving Lori Guenther Reesor (B.Math, MTS, DMin) The church treasurer assured me, the visiting stewardship consultant, that everyone in the congregation tithed. I was gob-smacked. I had analyzed congregational giving for the past year. If people were tithing, this was a very low-income congregation. Their ministry model needed to change. Drastically. Do people drive to church? “Do people drive here?” I replied. The numbers did

It’s Time to Return to In-Person Service… Now What Do We Do? Dr. Bridget Stirling, Director of Stirling Public Health “Let’s go! Let’s leap back into the church building for a summer of increasing normalcy.” This is what some are saying, and I can’t fault their enthusiasm. I miss church. Many of us do, and thanks to vaccines, better testing, and overall lowered rates of disease, safe return to gatherings is on the horizon. But what steps need to be put in place before we all

“For here or to go?”, a question that could alter your perception of church. Chris Pullenayegem is Director – Congregational Vitality Initiative at the Vancouver School of Theology We Canadians are familiar with this question aren’t we? At Tim Hortons I’ve answered both ways, in fact three ways if I include drive-through. The coffee’s the same; the difference is how you get it and where you consume it. And then of course, there are those who don’t even go to Tim Hortons. In f

Hiding in Plain Sight – The Gift of the Migrant Church Chris Pullenayegem is Director – Congregational Vitality Initiative at the Vancouver School of Theology A recent Gallup Poll found that for the first time, fewer than fifty percent of Americans are not attending a place of worship - Behind Gallup's portrait of church decline (religionnews.com). What the research also finds is that church membership is being bolstered mainly by non-white Christians; i.e., migrant and Afric

Four “Small Church” Concerns Rev. Ron Baker, Director, Canadian Small Church Ministry Centre, affiliated with Small Church Connections, and librarian at Eston College I was born in small town Saskatchewan. While still in diapers, I was taken to church meetings in Kindersley. I was “Ronnie” to the ladies who held me during fellowship times after church services. A few years after I was born, my father sold the family farm. His career intentions took him to larger towns and cit

The Trauma-Informed Pastor James Wheeler is the Pastor of Community Impact at Southview Alliance Church in Calgary, Alberta. For eight years I lived in a beautiful rural town called Morden in Southern Manitoba with my wife and three small children. Our modest-sized home, framed with heavy fir beams, was built in 1945. Because of its old age, it had several quaint quirks. One of those was the antiquated electrical system: a fuse box. I learned quickly that whenever we turned o

What if We Are on the Road to Emmaus? What if we're missing the signs of vibrant ministry because they don't fit our existing ideas of church? Carla Leon is Innovation & Special Projects Co-ordinator for the EDGE – A Network for Ministry Development. When I was younger I used to struggle with this particular story. Jesus has died and risen again. But when his friends on the road to Emmaus see him, they don’t know that it is him. How could Jesus’ best friends not recognize him

Things I Learn From My Digital Ministry Journey Philip Yan is the founder of GenesisXD in Toronto, a digital design consultancy. He connects the dots with his design thinking, ministry experience and mobile technology to build a full-service digital ministry. Pastors who embrace their leadership over the COVID-19 pandemic with courage are heroes: tackling multiple challenges while fostering spiritual growth within the community. One of the many questions you may have is: how

Signs of Life - Discipleship: Follow Me Dr. Arch Wong is Professor of Practical Theology and Associate Director of the Flourishing Congregations Institute, Ambrose University This is the last snapshot of our just released book, Signs of Life: Catholic, Mainline, and Conservative Protestant Congregations in Canada and I would like to look at discipleship and see what over 100 pastoral and denominational leaders from Roman Catholic, Mainline Protestant, and Conservative Protest

Signs of Life - INNOVATION: Step Out of the Boat Dr. Bill McAlpine, Professor Emeritus, Ambrose University It is very easy for us to get caught on the pendulum that swings between being anchored to ways and means that may have been effective in the past or ministering under the tyranny of the novel. My father-in-law used to cite an old adage that said, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” to which many church boards or councils might be heard to say, “Amen!” Where would you pla

Signs of Life … Leadership Dr. Keith Walker, Professor of Leadership and Educational Administration, University of Saskatchewan We started with leaders. Over the course of a few months we were able to meet with over 100 leaders through face-to-face interviews (remember when we used to do that sort of thing) and we convened over a dozen focus groups with these and other leaders across Canada. All those encounters were transcribed and analyzed. Our team wanted to know what thes

Signs of Life … Canadian Congregations Thriving in a Pandemic Dr. Joel Thiessen is Professor of Sociology, Ambrose University, Director of the Flourishing Congregations Institute In our next four updates, our research team will provide snapshots from our just released book, Signs of Life: Catholic, Mainline, and Conservative Protestant Congregations in Canada. In this book we ask what does it look like for a congregation to flourish? We address this question with national sur

Worship and Discipleship in World COVID Dr. Syd Hielema directs the Connections Project for the Christian Reformed Church in North America I’ve been involved in leading worship for fifty years, and I’ve always seen worship as the central, organizing hub of congregational life. One of my mentors taught me that discipleship is like an hour glass: all of our life’s experiences and actions flow into the narrow middle during our hour of worship, and then all that we are and am flo